Works quickly to eliminate problems with String Algae.Maybe it is the 18,000 gallon pond, but I put plenty of this stuff into the pond over several weeks and I was plenty much pouring money down the drain there was zero change in the algae.We use it for our River Otter exhibit to keep things under control and safe for animals. Used it for many years just do make sure you add it consistently. As many people are aware and others not so sure, it does not KILL the algae, it just makes the water not desirable for algae, so add it on a consistent basis, if you wait for alge to take over it is already too late. So keep things in check by always adding the correct dosage on time to keep algae almost non existantThis works so well in my pond. I have to use a lot over the course of the summer, and this is by far the best value out there.
Friday, October 17, 2014
Ecological Labs AEL20120 Microbe Lift Barley Straw Extract Pond Conditioners for Aquarium, 1-Gallon
Works quickly to eliminate problems with String Algae.Maybe it is the 18,000 gallon pond, but I put plenty of this stuff into the pond over several weeks and I was plenty much pouring money down the drain there was zero change in the algae.We use it for our River Otter exhibit to keep things under control and safe for animals. Used it for many years just do make sure you add it consistently. As many people are aware and others not so sure, it does not KILL the algae, it just makes the water not desirable for algae, so add it on a consistent basis, if you wait for alge to take over it is already too late. So keep things in check by always adding the correct dosage on time to keep algae almost non existantThis works so well in my pond. I have to use a lot over the course of the summer, and this is by far the best value out there.
Friday, August 15, 2014
Laguna PowerFlo External Biological Pond Filter, 1000-Gallon, 20-Inch
As far as the actual performance of this bio filter...I have to say I'm unimpressed. The cost of it is low compared to others that I considered which is why I gave it a 2 instead of a 1.
What I like?
The price
Easy enough to clean. Bottom plug removes in order to drain. Lift-out compartments can be quickly hosed off.
Some other bio filters are set up for easy flushing and cleaning, but cost considerably more.
What I don't like?
It's sort of flimsy (we laid some flat concrete pads behind the landscaping in order to level filter box and
give it some stability)
I don't like the filtering media provided (it keeps disappearing through the output hoses). Will replace
with better option.
Lid doesn't fit snugly enough.
If you aren't careful in making sure that the two output flows are removing water from the filter at a rate
equal to (or greater than) water coming in, the excess water will just spill out from under lid...and drain your pond.
The already mentioned problem with finding output hosing to fit. I ended up having to spend $40 for 4.5' of output
hosing.
I feel that the engineering of the filter input/output and compartments is not optimal. If I don't
clean it out at least once a week, too much dead algae and other gunk settles in the bottom. I generally only
clean out our other biological filter (BioFalls) no more than 2-3 times a year. In order to keep the good
bacteria operating at peak, the media needs water/oxygen circulating over it constantly. If water circulates
too fast, the bacteria doesn't have enough time to do its stuff. But in the case of this bio filter, it
appears to me that there is too much lower area in the box where the water doesn't circulate or move the
water. As a result, the dead algae (from the UV sterilizer) and other small debris just settles in bottom
and slowly decays.We have used this model of pond filter for several years and had to replace it recently due to minor part breakage. The price is reasonable and the function is fine. I would like a stronger bottom plug design and water supply connector.
Buy Laguna PowerFlo External Biological Pond Filter, 1000-Gallon, 20-Inch Now
I am very pleased with this product. My 1,000 gallon pond was a murky green before i installed this filter. in less than two days it is crystal clear. I hooked it up to a laguna clear flo 900 gph pond pump. I think that was important as this particular pump was capable of handling larger particles. The only reason I did not give it five stars is that the water outflow nozzle is larger than a 1.25 inch and smaller than a 1.5 inch. I had to buy and fit a specialty hose so I could run an outflow line and not use the unit as a waterfall. I have a separate pump and hose for the waterfall. Also, it comes with the filter pad and the lava rock, but it would not have taken much to also include the plastic biological media which goes in the third stage. I had to buy that separately also. overall, the filter works very well, I would definitely recommend.Read Best Reviews of Laguna PowerFlo External Biological Pond Filter, 1000-Gallon, 20-Inch Here
I have had this for a few months now. I must say, it does work with a little help with beneficial bacteria. I have this running on the Laguna 600 pump, it's feeding into the external filter. The bacteria can grow on its own, or you can buy products to start the biological process. I would not use this with anything larger than 1000 gallons. It is a bit smaller, with a little added bio-media added such as ceramic rings, a few lava rocks, plastic scrub pads, and a few small air conditioner filter pads (not included) this things works great to grow bacteria. Only mods I would suggest, adding a air pump with air stones in the media, so the bacteria will grow. I have done this by drilling a hole and adding a air pump to media. Also the parts made are a little cheaply made but do the job.Want Laguna PowerFlo External Biological Pond Filter, 1000-Gallon, 20-Inch Discount?
Friday, August 8, 2014
Marina Betta Pals Kit
I bought this at Petsmart one day when I decided to get a betta for my daughter's birthday present, and I just figured since it was specifically a "Betta kit" that it was humane and an appropriate size for a betta. Unfortunately, upon getting home with my betta tank all set up, I Googled a bit to learn more about this fish and read in several different places (from both professionals, veterinarians, and fish enthusiasts) that a 1/2 gallon betta aquarium is WAY too small and cruel to put the fish in. And after letting the fish live in this aquarium for a few weeks, I know they're right. My fish sits in the corner, facing the corner all day, despite regular cleaning his fins are pulled close to the body, he barely moves except to eat. It's very clear this fish is stressed out.
Finally, I picked up a 1.5 gallon tank and hoping it will help, as well as some natural plants for him to hide behind. Just got it tonight, so we'll see.
But my problem is I just think it's incredibly misleading for Marina to market & sell aquariums for Bettas that they MUST KNOW are TOO SMALL for these beautiful fish to thrive in. My fish survived, sure, but as one professional put it in their article on Bettas: "Surviving and thriving are two very different things." And as for my, I want a happy & healthy fish.
So, shame on you Marina for selling aquariums like this! I'm certain there are many more unaware buyers like myself that assume because the pet store sells it, it must be appropriate for their pet. Very misleading. Great design! But just not enough for even one fish.
And to other buyers, please do your research on bettas before buying. They are beautiful, fun fish. Give them a good life!Admittedly, I am not a fish purist. I was simply looking for a nice, compact fishtank for my 2.5-year-old to keep a betta in his room. I bought the Marina Betta Pals kit in green from a local box retailer and moved Pickle into his home. He ate, pooped, made bubble nests and was lively. He seemed very happy for the 3 years that he lived there before passing away, in spite of his small domain. My son is now almost 8 and on his second betta who has been with us for 2.5 years now. Again, every indication is that the fish is not unhappy with his surroundings. So yes, this is a small tank, but its small size is a bonus in a kid's room. It is easy to clean, easy to open to feed the fish, and has a lid to protect the fish from our curious cats and random Legos. And the fish just don't appear to be distressed in it.
Read Best Reviews of Marina Betta Pals Kit Here
I'm a betta hobbist and I know about all the misconceptions that betta can live in just about anything and it is bogus. This "aquarium" is way too small, betta require atleast one gallon of water and that needs to be cleaned 1-2x weekly atleast. This is probably 1/2 gallon or less meaning you either clean it every day, t hus stressing your betta out and killing it or let is die a slow death from ammonia burns and other ills. This also has no lighting leave betta looking dull and boring, no heating or ability to heat so your house must stay warm where your betta is and it just isn't good. You can also buy large Critter Carriers (2-3 gallons) for the same price or less, it wouldn't be great, but it'd be a heck of a lot better.Want Marina Betta Pals Kit Discount?
I liked this tank because I don't have a lot of space away at school. It fits one betta fish (no more than one).There is no room for a filter-but a plant helps with maintaining the oxygen levels and keeping wastes down. I clean up the food my picky betta misses with a net. I also change about a quarter of the water in my tank every 2 days. It has held up really nicely so far. My betta is happy. I wish I had room for toys. Poor guys bored and stares at me half the time :-) lol. I think he needs something to do.
Wednesday, July 2, 2014
Sentry AQ Mardel Clout Tabs, 100ct
We needed this medication for some of our fish and we needed it ASAP. So we went for the bigger price here at amazon since the other website was not available. The product arrived very fast, great shipping here!, It was the second time we used CLOUT and the results where good.
The product does what it says...
Read carefully the instructions before using, since scaleless fish cant be treated normally with this product. Otherwise very good product.
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It did the job of clearing up my fishes ailments. Turned by pink plastic plants purple but did not change the color or stain my ceramic ornaments.Read Best Reviews of Sentry AQ Mardel Clout Tabs, 100ct Here
Yes, leeches in an aquarium. Ugh. But this is supposed to kill them. According to the fish boards it is one of the only things that kills them.I treated once the first time and still saw another leech (a little one... one inch long) a couple of weeks later. Just re-treated two days in a row and have not seen one yet.
By the way... this product has a chemical known the state of California to cause cancer. Don't use it unless you have to. It does also treat ich, but there are way better, safer products for treating ich, like Seachem ParaGuard 250ml.It was unclear what was killing my fish, but this took care of it. Seems like the best value out there if you have a large tank to treat. Only downside it that it will turn silicone blue. The blue color of the water fades after a day or two.
Wednesday, May 28, 2014
Drum Fish Bowl
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I got this because it was the biggest fish bowl I could find that wasn't really expensive. It's hard to imagine what 2.5 gallons looks like, so I was actually a little surprised how big it was. Made me feel bad about the bowl I was keeping my betta in before. Anyway, if you're intent upon getting an unfiltered bowl, this is the absolute best choice for your fish and for you. Be sure to change at least a cup or two of water everyday since there is no other filtration, and keep the bowl in the warmest room in your house.I bought this for my betta and he loves it. It works great, it's the perfect size for him and it's fairly easy to clean. It's also the largest bowl I could find and it is great for someone who likes to have decorations.Item is exactly as described and is perfect for what I need it for. Arrived SUPER quick, can't wait to get it all set up for my betta fernando.Although they look grey in the photo, there is nothing dark, tinted, at all about this bowl. Perfectly crystal clear. I ordered 4 of them for my bettas and I LOVE THEM!! They are a great size for me to be able to do twice weekly water changes and still have room for lots of tank decorations. They are, indeed heavy when filled with water, but that's to be expected in any bowl, and this plastic itself is very light. In the vendor's image, there also appears to be some strange indentations on the bowl-I don't know what those are. Mine are beautiful. The drum shape means my thermometers, heaters, and betta beds can all suction to the flat sides, and that less substrate is needed than in a rectangular tank. And for the price, you can't beat it!!! Do yourself a favor and get a scrubbing pad made for acrylic tanks, so you don't scratch the plastic.I bought this to use as a prop in a play. From a few feet away it looks like a real glass fishbowl.
Wednesday, May 14, 2014
Seachem Acid Buffer 600gram
Thursday, April 10, 2014
Finnex Ray2 Aquarium Day/Actinic LED Light, 48-Inch
Now, why 4 stars instead of 5? A few reasons, none of which are major issues. One of the LED bulbs blew almost immediately, only one out of the over 300 bulbs doesn't make much of a difference in the lighting. I would like this light to have either a 3 way switch or separate switches for the daylight/actinic. A minor issue to me, but for some maybe not, is that the legs that come with this do not fit on the sides of my tank. The gap in the clamp is too small, or the walls of my tank are too thick. I prefer to think the clamp opening is too small. I rest this light on a hood, so the clamp size doesn't matter much, but it would be nice to be able to see what I am doing during water changes when I have the hood off. Lastly I wish I could get a dual 10,000k. I wonder why you can get 50/50 10,000k/actinic, but the dual daylight is dual 7,000k. Still not a real big deal because the 50/50 lights up my tank just fine.
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It took a few months for my fish to come out of hiding. something about the extreme brightness? I don't know, but when I first turned it on, they all ran for cover. (african cichlids)Read Best Reviews of Finnex Ray2 Aquarium Day/Actinic LED Light, 48-Inch Here
I read the reviews and saw that a few people said they lights don't work. I took a chance and ordered itand wouldn't you know it the light did not work. I think Amazon should stop selling this lights until the
manufacturer can produce a better product.
Want Finnex Ray2 Aquarium Day/Actinic LED Light, 48-Inch Discount?
Let me start this review by saying that I *really* want to like the Finnex Ray2 lights. They're pretty bright they reach all the way to the bottom of my simple 55gal, and have a nice 10k/actinic color mix. The beams are pretty narrow, so unless you're able to hoist these up a bit away from the tank (the included canopy legs aren't tall enough) you'll probably need two bars for full front and back coverage maybe more if your tank is wider (mine was 48" wide by 12" deep).The biggest problem I have with these is... well they're not built well. I picked up a 18" for my smaller 12g marine tank a while ago and that one also had the shock problem, but honestly I couldn't find another brand on Amazon that did LEDs with the same brightness that the Finnex's provided. So I threw the dice and picked up the 48". The 48" are far worse than my 18".
There is a rocker switch on the side to turn off the lights. Now, imagine that the lights are turned off and you touch the top of the light (the silver, aluminium part). The LEDs flicker on and stay on for as long as your finger is touching the light only at around 5-10% of the total brightness, but you also feel that "tingling" feeling in your fingers. I figured that maybe I just got a bum light and asked Amazon to replace it. The second one I got didn't turn on at all.
I wish I could provide some insight into coral growth and general tank health with these lights, but I haven't been able to keep one running long enough to find out.
Wednesday, April 2, 2014
Life-Glo 2 Fluorescent Bulb, 15 Watt, 18 Inches
Friday, March 28, 2014
Fish & Aquatic Supplies Spectrum Freshwater Flake With Garlic 90Gm
Tuesday, March 4, 2014
Coralife 05150 Power Center Day Night Timer Strip
I used for day/night cycle on a 55 gal freshwater tank. The power strip was mounted underneath the cabinet, completely unexposed to anything that might cause it to malfunction. It looks as clean as the day i bought it. I even tried adjusting the trip tabs to no avail, just in case one of them was causing the problem. Nope.
I had initially disregarded the negative reviews on this one, chalking it up to a bad batch, but maybe there's a bigger defect going on here. I'm just lucky that I didn't use it for anything vital. If you give a crap about your tank critters, for the love of god, pass on this one.
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The timer never goes off on the time I set it, its always like half an hour later or so. Whats even far more annoying is the fact that as time goes by, the lights go on later and later and later until finally I have to re-do the settings. I have no idea what causes this but it is damn annoying. Another really annoying thing is how hard to it is to set the timer tabs. Some of them are so stiff that I had to use tools to push them up or down in fear of my nail breaking off. Dont waste ur time with this product. Biggest piece of junk timer there is on the market.Read Best Reviews of Coralife 05150 Power Center Day Night Timer Strip Here
I have used this product for three months. Every once in a while, the analog timer gets stuck and throws the timing schedule off. Since I use this on a saltwater tank, a little salt/dust got into the dial mechanism and now it sticks on certain hours. Mt recommendation is to get the digital version or keep the power strip clean.Want Coralife 05150 Power Center Day Night Timer Strip Discount?
if you need this timer to keep time you better find another one to buy. Everyday I had to reset the time, it was off by hours not mintues.Tuesday, January 28, 2014
Daily Double Feeder II w/ FREE Fish Food
This is not a precision instrument, but that was okay. In fact I think the mechanism is the same as a little AA-battery travel-clock, but instead of the hands of a clock it turns a drum which you load with food. A scoop/chute inside the drum can be adjusted so that its angle scoops up a little more or less food on each rotation, depending on your needs. Then, as the drum rotates, that amount of food gets dropped out the chute end which you've carefully positioned over your tank through a couple of days of observation. You have to allow for an opening of a couple of inches in your hood because it drops the food all along the last couple of inches of its rotation, which is fine. Actually this came in handy because I was using it over a smaller tank and at the lowest portion setting it wasn't really working with my food mix, so I had to go with a higher portion setting which would have been way too much food for my small tank. Solution? Aiming the device so it dropped a bunch of the food to the side of the hood opening, just allowing some of it to fall into the tank. Definitely allow a couple of days' practice with the device before you go away. I placed a tin foil "cup" in the hole of my hood to catch the food at different settings and at different positions until I was happy with both the reliability of the scooping mechanism and the amount that was being caught in the cup (which would become the amount delivered to my fish once I removed it, but you have to experiment). I used two of these feeders on a couple of small 5 gallon tanks for a week, and all fish survived. One worked perfectly and the water was even clear upon my return. The other I'd aimed a little "off" and the water was cloudy (too much food delivered) but my fancy goldfish Mugsy was alive and well, just needed a partial water changed and a bunch of food vacuumed off the floor around his tank.
The device is probably of greater value to a larger tank where the full amount of food it dispenses reliably will be readily consumed by the larger number of fish. I did not get to use this in my 20 gallon tank as I had someone willing to check it and do feedings, but my sense is that it would have been fine there.
Final verdict? It works okay. Experiment till you know the device inside and out with your particular food and tank setup. It's not difficult, just time consuming because to see it actually operate you need to let it run at its own pace. (Turning it by hand gave me different results than watching it in action.) If you are torn between the reliability of an auto-feeder and a well-meaning fish sitter friend, set up the feeder to dispense the bare minimum to keep your tank alive, then have your friend check in, say twice a week with instructions on feeding one small portion each visit if the fish seem hungry and the water seems clear. (Although if you have such a friend, you may not even need to use a feeder at all.)
Remember, the feeder delivers food twice a day no matter what, so set the portions to half of what you want your fish to eat every day, and they get that twice each day (remember: clock mechanism).
Good luck!I've been using these for about 10 years now, and they work very well.
Good for about 2 years.
Be careful opening food chamber as the plastic tabs are made very cheaply and will break if you bend to far.
Again,, it is made as about cheap as you can make a product but, it will rotate twice a day for about 2 years, and only on about 3 battery changes.
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it's hard to tell if it's working, so i sometimes feed the fish. of course, this negates the purpose of the automatic feeder. i would not recommend it.Read Best Reviews of Daily Double Feeder II w/ FREE Fish Food Here
Finnex Deluxe Titanium Heating Tube, 500-Watt
Tuesday, January 7, 2014
BestDealUSA Automatic Fish Food Feeder Digital Timer Aquarium Tank Black New
Friday, December 20, 2013
Sentry Tropical Breeze Flea and Tick Dog Shampoo, 18-Fluid Ounce
Wednesday, December 18, 2013
Drymate Aquarium Spill Mat, 20-Inch by 36-Inch, Denim
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Thursday, December 12, 2013
Hagen A1624 14-Watt Power-Glo Fluorescent Bulb, 15-Inch
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Unfortunately, I can't say what this looks like in comparison to any other specific light, but I can say that it looks great. I replaced an unknown bulb which was 2 years old, and everything in my tank looks more than just brighter now; it looks more vibrant. The blue background art, the green plants, the yellow rocks, and the orange fish... all of them look bluer, greener, yellower, and oranger, respectively.Would another light have achieved the same effect? Maybe. But the point is, this is the one I bought and that's how it performed. I'm happy, and I'd buy it again. I'm not sure how much benefit there really is to over-thinking your aquarium light purchase. Just buy one that works, and trust me when I say that this one does.
Read Best Reviews of Hagen A1624 14-Watt Power-Glo Fluorescent Bulb, 15-Inch Here
Friday, November 8, 2013
Bayshore Aquarium BW1SLVR Small Rectangular Wall Aquarium, Silver
Thursday, September 19, 2013
Lee`s Aquarium Vegi Clip Clown Fish 1/ Card
-Editdont use cilantro, it will make your water cloudy. I switched to romaine lettuce and the water cleared up.(the fish dont seem to be interested in the lecttuce but the snail climb on it) Also, the price is a bit high, I spent 2.99 at Petsmart for mine. And the color hasnt faded or peeled yet.I have purchased three. One broke with moderate use. The third seem more solid. Whaile thy work fine before they break I just cannot recommend it.

